9 Months!!!

Someone has been "out" as long as he was "in"... give or take! :-)

We don't have our 9 month check-up until next Monday, so I don't have any "official" stats yet, but I'm pretty sure Carson is ~25 pounds and 30-31." I didn't ever realize how big he was until I had him around other babies. There was a sweet little 11-month old girl at a baby shower I went to and he just towered over her. Her mommy did say she was on the shorter side. More to love on if you ask me!

Stats aside, our little man is just pure JOY!!! I absolutely love this age!!! He's had a lot of non-joyous moments this week because he has been a teething MACHINE. A couple weeks ago, the two top teeth popped through just one after the other and now the other two top teeth have just made their debut. The next two bottom teeth are on the verge of busting out any day! He went from 2 teeth as of April 13th to almost EIGHT by the end of the month! CrAzY!!! Although he's been a grump off and on during the day, he's still sleeping at night. THANK GOD.


He's still not crawling yet, but he is definitely mobile in his own way. I'll turn around for 2 seconds and he's rolled across the room. Let's just say we've learned our lesson about not turning around and leaving him alone for any amount of time, no matter how short. He also goes from sitting over his front legs up to on his hands and knees all by himself. He'll rock back and forth and even take a hand step or two. He'll often drag both knees forward at the same time and then crash. So, he's definitely getting VERY close. Still haven't baby-proofed. Whoops!

Carson hasn't pulled up in his crib yet, but that's probably more because it's hard to reach the railing because the bumpers are thick. He stands up from sitting all the time if holding my hands. He'll stand all day long if holding onto something. He'll stay balanced by himself for just a second or two if on his own.


Carson still generally eats like a champ unless he's really tired or in the middle of prime teething time (which has been the case off and on this week). That usually means his face ends up smeared with oatmeal and whatever fruit/veggie he's eating. He still loves oatmeal and baby fruits & veggies. I'm still trying to make most of the veggies and some chicken/veggie concoctions. He has definitely got the pincer grasp down. This kid can feed puffs, yogurt melts, little bites of whatever you give him and get it to his mouth like a champ...with his LEFT hand.

Carson is still getting mostly breast milk thanks to an awesome pump, but he doesn't really nurse anymore. He's just not interested and doesn't want to sit still long enough. He's showing many signs that he will be a very independent child. He wants to hold his own bottle, but he still doesn't have gravity figured out really well. Unless he's laying down, he seems to just blow bubbles in the bottle. I think I may try those sippy's with a straw. He'll have the bottle in one hand and a toy in the other. The bottle is not a toy though. As soon as he starts playing with it, it's gone.

Back to the independence thing, I am AMAZED at how well he plays by himself. He is SO observant and studies everything. He loves to just sit there and "read" books and examine all of his toys. He loves books!!!


His favorite "words" are "ga-ga", "ba" (bottle), and "ma ma."

He LOVES to clap!!! He claps on command if you say "Yay".

He can blow a duck call...pretty good too!!!

He's still sleeping fabulous at night, from about ~8:00pm to ~6:30/7:30am. Nap times are also getting easier...occasionally longer too! He seems to have dropped his third nap on most days and is not taking two slightly longer than before naps, one mid-late morning and one mid-late afternoon. By "slightly longer" I mean occasionally 45 minutes to an hour. Occasionally.

He LOVES being outside!!! He also LOVES the dogs!!! He loves watching them play fetch and wrestle. He likes to pet them while he's in the high chair.

A few other stats:

-Size 4 diapers
-He's in pretty much all 12-month and 18-month clothes. I don't buy anything smaller than 18 or 24 months.